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Israel Jails Soldier Who Assaulted Palestinian during US Media Interview

Israeli Border police officers secure the scene where a suspected ramming attack took place in Jerusalem, February 10, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Border police officers secure the scene where a suspected ramming attack took place in Jerusalem, February 10, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israel Jails Soldier Who Assaulted Palestinian during US Media Interview

Israeli Border police officers secure the scene where a suspected ramming attack took place in Jerusalem, February 10, 2023. (Reuters)
Israeli Border police officers secure the scene where a suspected ramming attack took place in Jerusalem, February 10, 2023. (Reuters)

Israel's military on Monday jailed for 10 days a soldier who assaulted a Palestinian activist as he was speaking to a US journalist, but gave an account of the incident that was disputed by the interviewer.

The incident in Hebron also set off an internal Israeli flap, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir - one of several hundred hardline Jewish settlers living in the flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank - voicing full support for the soldier.

In a video posted on Twitter by Lawrence Wright of The New Yorker magazine, the soldier grabs Issa Amro by his jacket and neck and throws him to the ground. He then lands a kick to Amro's backside before being pulled away by another soldier.

"I never had a source assaulted in front of me until today when an Israeli soldier who stopped my interview did this," Wright tweeted.

The military said the event began when the soldier, guarding a military post, asked the Palestinian who approached the post to step away.

"In response, the Palestinian began recording and cursing the soldier. A verbal confrontation followed, which soon became a physical confrontation, during which the soldier hit the Palestinian," it said in a statement.

"As the video shows, the soldier did not act as expected and did not follow the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) code of conduct."

However, in a Twitter response, Wright said: "The IDF misrepresented what led to this. The soldier initiated the encounter, Amro did not curse him only asked to call his commander. Nothing to justify the violent assault that followed."

The military declined to comment further.

Ben-Gvir called the soldier's sentence - which included a suspension from active combat duties - a "disgrace" and described Amro as an anarchist.

"I fully support the soldier, who did not remain silent. Soldiers deserve to be backed up, not jailed," Ben-Gvir tweeted.

Amro, described by Wright as a peace activist, accused the minister of trying to get him killed.

"The soldiers are listening to @itamarbengvir not to their military occupation commanders," Amro tweeted.

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Continued Israeli Incursions in South Lebanon: A Bid to Create New Realities on the Ground

Smoke rises due to Israeli raids on South Lebanon (Reuters) 
Smoke rises due to Israeli raids on South Lebanon (Reuters) 
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Continued Israeli Incursions in South Lebanon: A Bid to Create New Realities on the Ground

Smoke rises due to Israeli raids on South Lebanon (Reuters) 
Smoke rises due to Israeli raids on South Lebanon (Reuters) 

South Lebanon is witnessing an escalating series of military operations, marked by repeated Israeli ground incursions and extensive bulldozing along the border.

The latest incidents have unfolded in the Marjayoun district and around the Wadi Hunin area, where Israeli military vehicles advanced more than 800 meters into Lebanese territory. According to analysts, these moves signal an effort to entrench a security presence that reflects “an advanced strategy to impose a new status quo along the frontier.”

On Friday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli army bulldozers, protected by tanks stationed nearby, crossed the boundary at Wadi Hunin and moved towards a landfill south of the town of Adaisseh. The forces sealed off a road and erected earthen barriers, prompting heightened alert from the Lebanese side.

Separately, an Israeli patrol breached the withdrawal line in the outskirts of Kfar Shouba - penetrating 400 meters into Lebanese territory - and fired shots at shepherds without causing injuries.

The incursions did not stop there. Residents of Blida also reported a fresh advance of over 800 meters. Meanwhile, Israeli troops detonated a civilian structure in the Ghassouna area east of Adaisseh, using incendiary and stun grenades that sowed panic among local families.

In parallel, Israeli aerial attacks have intensified. On Friday, an Israeli drone struck a car traveling on the Nmeiriyeh–Sharqiyyeh road in Nabatieh district, killing one person and injuring five others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry confirmed. The attack underscores the widening scope of targets, reaching deeper into southern Lebanon and extending beyond military sites to include civilian vehicles.

Another drone dropped a bomb on a small transport truck in the border town of Kfar Kila, causing material damage but no casualties. Such incidents have become a recurring pattern in the ongoing escalation.

Adding to the strain on civilians, an entire house in Kfar Kila was blown up after being rigged with explosives. In Meiss El Jabal, Israeli forces destroyed a newly renovated tile factory last week, as part of what Israeli spokesmen described as “special operations” targeting weapons depots and infrastructure allegedly tied to Hezbollah in locations including Labouneh and Jabal Balat.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee stated on Wednesday that the operations were based on intelligence gathering and surveillance of “Hezbollah’s combat means and terrorist infrastructure.” He added that special units were working to dismantle these networks to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing its positions along the border. Adraee also released nighttime video footage showing Israeli infantry operating deep inside southern Lebanon.

A Systematic Effort to Empty the Border

Military analyst Brigadier General Naji Malaeb described these incursions as “part of a systematic plan to reshape the situation on the border.” He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli ground advances typically coincide with major diplomatic developments - whether a US envoy arriving in Beirut or Israeli delegations traveling to Washington.

“Every time there is a significant diplomatic event, we see coordinated maneuvers - airstrikes, artillery shelling, or limited ground incursions targeting civilian or logistical sites,” Malaeb noted.

He argued that Israel’s consistent pattern of targeting rebuilt homes and small businesses reveals a clear message: preventing displaced residents from returning. “Whenever villagers attempt to repair their homes or revive their livelihoods, the response is immediate,” he said, citing a recent case in Aitaroun where Israeli troops demolished a factory that had been reconstructed inside a residence.

“This is no longer just a violation of Lebanese sovereignty or UN Resolution 1701,” Malaeb concluded. “It has evolved into a deliberate strategy to depopulate the border strip and impose new facts on the ground, creating, in effect, a buffer zone through indirect means.”